The Jacksonville Alliance of Black School Educators' next planned meeting is Sept. 14 at 5 p.m. in Ed White High School's cafeteria. To learn more about the organization, contact Constance Hall at (904) 390-2294 or e-mail Catherine Barnes at jabse.members@gmail.com.

Group wants to help students close achievement gap

Revitalized Jacksonville Alliance of Black School Educators is refocused and renewed after taking a hiatus last year.

A group focused on improving the education of black students has reorganized after a yearlong hiatus and is asking the community to join its efforts.

The Jacksonville Alliance of Black School Educators, an affiliate of the National Alliance of Black School Educators, wants to focus on expanding its membership and including everyone - no matter their race - in the fight to close the achievement gap between black and white students.

"It's for any person who ever encounters a black child, and for any person concerned with ... the achievement gap," said Catherine Barnes, the local group's president and principal of Highland Middle School. "Somebody has to step up and do something about it and that's what this organization is going to do."

Barnes stressed that the group isn't limited to black educators, or even just educators. She encouraged everyone concerned about public education to become a part of the mission.

The group started a revitalization effort in November and this year plans to sponsor workshops for educators, students and parents on teaching strategies aimed at improving academic performance.

Tutoring for students and parents, and providing mentors for teachers to help them become district-level leaders, are also on the group's agenda, Barnes said. Firm plans for the initiatives are still being developed.

The organization was inactive last year primarily because its members were busy, said Constance Hall, director of community and family engagement for Duval schools and the group's former president.

Kenneth Reddick, principal of A. Philip Randolph Academies, has been a member of the organization off and on for about 15 years. He said the group has had difficulty in the past keeping high membership levels.

"I think that it has been a problem because in years past others perceived it as 'this black organization' and never got the opportunity to really know what JABSE's all about," Reddick said.

Reddick and Barnes plan to change that perception this year. They are among a crop of young educators who helped spark the group's current revitalization.

Hall said it wants to highlight "the disparities that exist in schools," and move "toward providing strategies and solutions to address those issues."

The group also looks into issues like the over-representation of black students in special education and reducing the number of black students with discipline infractions.

Barnes believes that with the community's help, the alliance can put a dent in the achievement gap.

"It takes all of us working together," she said. "It's not one group of people who are going to solve this problem. It's everybody working together because everybody brings something different to the table."

So what part of my statement is false, or which parts do you have an issue with? Also I am not a fan of the current NAACP.

The reason I brought it up is because people don't know the real history of the group. Actually I don't know or care what the percentage today is. The NAACP is still needed, they just refuse to go after important issues.

Flotown..So what pecentage of the NAACP today do you think is white?..................and since YOU brought up this particular group. The NAACP was badly needed at one point in time. It did some very good things for blacks during a time when it was needed. However, today it is a bunch of racist, whining, blame everyone else for our problems group.